A wide range of structures in the aircraft industry are fabricated from aluminum alloys because of their relatively high strength-to-weight ratio. For example, aluminum skins may be used to form the fuselage, wings and other exterior surfaces on aircraft. The aluminum sheets are commonly joined together using mechanical fasteners, such as rivets. The aluminum sheets used in these applications typically comprise a thin layer lightly alloyed aluminum laminated onto each side of an aluminum alloy sheet in order to improve corrosion resistance and structural performance of the skin. One such aluminum laminate known as “Alclad” available from the Alcoa Corporation, comprises a corrosion resistant aluminum sheet formed from sacrificial aluminum surface layers metallurgically bonded to high strength aluminum alloy core material.
Fabricating aluminum skins using mechanical fasteners is a robust and well established process, but is time consuming and labor intensive. Moreover, the mechanical fasteners and splice plates required to join the skin sections add weight to the aircraft.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of joining clad metal skins that eliminates the need for fasteners and reduces fabrication time.